What do Bishop Peter Okpaleke, former head of the Diocese of Ahiara in Nigeria, Bishop Juan Barros of the Chilean Diocese of Osorno and Joseph Cardinal Zen, retired Bishop of Hong Kong, share in common?
They are at the heart of a fundamental question which is being raised during the Pontificate of Pope Francis.
The question is this: who exercises final authority over the selection of Bishops? Is it the Pope? Protesting Clergy and laity who refused to accept a Bishop? Or a national government?
In the case of Bishop Okpaleke, it appears that Pope Francis has backed away from a previous ultimatum to the Priests of Ahiara whom he threatened to excommunicate if they did not each send him a letter of apology for their resistance to the Bishop’s appointment.
In the end, Pope Francis accepted Bishop Okpaleke’s resignation in pursuit of a greater good, peace in the besieged diocese.
In so doing, has Pope Francis signaled his willingness (even if reluctant) to relinquish his supreme autonomy as regards the selection of Bishops?
What happens in Chile with Bishop Barros remains to be seen. Certainly, the opposition to Bishop Barros is no less intense in Osorno, Chile than it was against Bishop Okpaleke in Ahiara in Nigeria.
And what eventually is decided regarding the selection of Bishops in China will be critical as the Holy See desires to establish closer ties with one-fifth of the world’s population and its Communist leadership.
As we near the Fifth Anniversary of Pope Francis’ election of the Office of Peter, questions such as these lead many to wonder what the legacy of this Holy Father will be and how the Papacy itself will be affected for decades, if not centuries, to come.
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